Antifriction-bearing and separator therefor.



F. e. HUGHES. ANHFRICHUN BEARENG AND SEPARATOR THERUOR. APPLICATION FILED HM? I}. I917.

1 ,299.474. Patented Apr. 8, 19M).

if. A fro/mm;

way shoulder of one of UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK G. HUGHES, OF BRI STOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW DEPARTURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, A COB,-

PORATION or CONNECTICUT.

Application filedJnly 11, 1817.

lie it. known that LFHRXJEHIUK G. IIUGHES, a :lll/xl! of the (initial Statcs. residing at iliir l ul. county of l'lai'll'm'il, State. of COD- iirrtirut. haw invrntml a rcrtain new and awful Antii'rictiun-llearing' and Separator 'ihcrcl'or, of which the following a full, ilcar. alulox'a t description. such as will onalilc others skilled in the art to which it appcrlains to mnlro a lid use the same, rcl'crenco being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My intention rc-atos to antifriction bearings and. more particularly. to an antifriction bearing and separator therefor.

In the assembling of certain types of antifrictior. bearings it is a'coimnon practice to assemble the antit'riction members in a step orator and to then push the so-assembled series of antilriction members ovcr the mom the race members, and so into the race. Since the usual separator for the type of bearing referred to is so designed that it will hold the antifriction members in thc raceway against all ordinary forces. the assembled antifriction members have to be snapped over the raceway shoulder with considerable force. The strains on the separator. occasioned by the snappim are liable to permanently distort and bend it, aid in the case of a multipart separator, loosen its fastenings. I have do vised a. separator which, whilev it properly holds the antifriction mcmbers relative to the raceway and to each other, and facilitates the snapping of the antifriction members over the raceway shoulder and into the raceway, is not liable to be distorted. bent or otherwise injured in tho snapping operation.

Ono object of my invention is to provide a separator which will properly hold the antifriction members and facilitate snapping and yet will be proof against injury by e strains incident to snapping. Another object of my invention is to provide an antifriction bearing comprising; a shouldered. race member, a series of antifriction members, and a separator for the antifriction members, the separator bcingof a character to properly hold the antifriction members on the Faraway and to facilitate. snapping without injury to the separator.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 179,803.

To these ends and also to improve generally upon devices of the character indicated, my invention consists in the various mattors hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

igure 1 is a front view of a cup-and-cone ball bearing en'ibodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the bearing illustratcd in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1, the ball, however, being shown in full;

Fig. l is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 15

Fig. 5 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 4 but showing a ball just being snap ed over the raceway shoulder and the side 0 the ball pocket temporarily flexed to permit such sntcilpping without injury to the separator; an

separator. V 'Without restricting my invention to beam ings with raceways of the illustrated type, I show and describe it as embodied in a bearing in which the outer race member has a raceway shouldcr at but one side of its raoeway and the inner race member has a raceway shoulder at each side of its raceway.

The illustrated bearing comprises the outer annular race member, or cup, 1 with a raceway 2 extending crosswise of the hearing and terminated by a. shoulder 3, and also comprises the inner annular race memher. or cone, 4 with its raceway 5 curved crosswise of the bearing and terminated at ons side by a shoulder 6 and at the other side by a shoulder 7.

Received 11 on the raceways- 2 and :3 is a series of antifriction members 8, held assembled upon the raceways and with each other by the separator 9. i

According to my invention the separator has one side, and as .here illustrated both sides, constructed from somewhat resilient material. say sheet steel. And on thesaid one side, 10, the lips 11, which form one side of the ball-pockets, roject for a very considcrablc distance ra ially beyond the circle defined by the separator material 12 that lies intermediate (circumferentially) the l1 s 11. so that a large part of the radial heig t of each lip is free of the body material 12 of the separator.

As here illustrated the outer edge of the Patented Apr. 8', 1919.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary edge view of the The recited construction--somewhat resilient material and a very substantial freradial length for the lips-iprovides: that the separator can be 0 t e to r size,

10 ri 'dity and tproportions to ho d t e series 0 balls 8 in e raceway 5 against all ordin force's so that the inner race member wit the balls assembled thereon can be handled as a unit without danger of the balls and separator being disassembled from the race member; that the separator can have its pockets sufliciently small to properly guide and separate the balls; and that the separator yet can, and wilhpermit the snapping of 1; without permanent distortion of the separator.

This is because, although the separator is of proper size and pro rtions, and its lips 11 are sufiicientlY rigi to not yield under forces substantia ly no eater than those to which the separator an assembled antifriction members and race member are subjected in ordinary handling and use, the portions of the lips which are more particularly stressed during snapping are yet sufiiciently resilient to temporarily resiliently flex into abnormal positions under the; stresses of snapping and this ielding will occur before the said stresses ecome great enoughto injure the separator by permanent distortion of an .of its arts.

The ie ding 0 course takes place under the w ging action of the radially crowding balls as the balls'are snapped over a shoulder, as 7 (see Fig; 5 in which a ball is shown being forced over the shoulder 7 and a lip 11 is shown resiliently flexed to its temporary abnormal position.) After the balls are over the shoulder the lips return to their unflegred, normal eitions and theseparator.

with the tops 0 its pockets once more contracted, is in correct proportions to proper] I aide, separate and retain the balls. It wi l v to of course understood that the ockets are so dimensioned that even when t e balls are being snapped the balls are'retained in the separator.

It will be noted that in a separator embodylng my invention I do not have to resort to ockets lgiving, under normal conditions, a name radial freedom to the balls, 2'. e pockets vof abnormal free height, and which would greatly injure, if not destro' the ability of the separator to retain t c balls-on the raceway and would give so much radial shift as to cause undue rattle. On the contrary I can make the ball pockets with a free height just sufiicicnt for the very slight radial play desirable in operation, the

vwhereby the balls are properly held, but are e balls over the shoulder 7 the straight and uuourved connectors parresilient lips taking care of the abnormal radial movement necessary topermit pushinfi of the assembled balls over is e shoulder.

, be illustrated separator is co f osed (see Fi 3 and 6) of two annular "sections, or si es, the aforesaid side 10 and the side 13. The side 13 has, as here shown, its-ballpocket-sides 14 of less radial length than the ips l1 and between such sides ind substantially on the center line of the side 13 has the slits 15'. The ball ockets are )ortions of substantial spheres, t e internal iameter of the pockets being slightly greater than the diameter of the balls to be received therein,

not grasped, by the separator. The exposure openings, for the balls, which open onto that peripher of the separator radially the more distant mm the shoulder of the raceway and toward which the balls are crowded during snapping (in the present case the openings 16 .in the outer periphery of the separator). are restricted in size and have each a diunietcr less than that of the balls to be received in the ockets. Also, the diameter of the. oil-cum erential plane of the said exposure openings is of sue length that the separator and balls cannot noiunally pass over the raceway shoulder. This structure of course provides that the separator will retain the balloon the raceway. Of course, desirably, and as here illustrated, the exposure openings 17 of the inner rlphery are also 0 less diameter than the lie.

There is a straight, flat, rectangular tab, orconnector, 18, bent at rwht an les to the material 12 between each 0? the lips l1 and extending circumferentially substantially from one lip to the next. The tabs have their respective free ends reduced to rovide shoulders l9, l9 and a wing 20. he wings 20 are passed tightly through their correspondin apertures 15 in the side l3 and, preferab v, went to lie against the outer face of such side, while the shoulders 19 abut the inner face of the side 13. Thus the wings prevent the separator from spreading and the shouldered struts 18 prevent the se rator from contracting or crushing. I nd ticularly desirable in a separator of the present type as, unlike bowed or curved connectors they make doubly sure that the lips 11 will ,yield instead of the "connectors stretching.

Although I have more particularly described my invention in connection with a, bearing having halls for antifriction members and designedio have the antifriction members snapped into the raceway of the inner race member it will be of course understood that- I do not confine my invention to bearings of the illustrated character.

it will be seen that I have rovided de vice of the character indicate which 15 not 139 .spaccd poi-hots l'or liable to be injured in thc snapping opcration, which at all timcs pro )crly rctains. guides, and scparuloa the halls, and which Withal is nimplu, clliciont. and incxpcnsivc to manufucturo.

Having thus dcsoribml my invontion. what I claim as now and desire to scrnrc h y lint, tern Patent. is:

1'. A scpnrator t'or antifriction mcmhcrs comprising Hidcs antifrirtion incmlu-rs, a side of said scparhtor having its pockct-sidcs shaped to rctain tho antil'rlcl ion mcmbcrs to bc rcccivcd thci'cin but of sonicwhat rcsillcnt material and pmjctding radially beyond thc material of thc :mparator sidc intornmdiatu said pockcl-sidcosulliciontlv lo prcscnt a sub stantial portion of thc radial lcng'th of cach ofjsaid mclict-sidcs trcr of said inlcrincdiatc material. \rlwrrhy said p(x:kot-sidc.-s, whilerctaining tho antilriction incmhcrs,-can bc rcsilicntly llcxcd into abnormal positiol'is, to provide for tho abnormal positioning of thc antifriction members to be rcccircd in said scparaton without permanent distortion of the separator: substantially as dcscribcd.

A separator for antifriction members composed of two mating sides, each presenting a series of spaced antifriction-membcrpockct-sidcs, one of thc separator sides ha vmg the material intermediate ccrtain of its POCliQlSlLlQS presenting: moans for connecting struts thereto. and the other separatorsidc presenting struts intermediate certain of its pochct-sidcs, projecting CIJSS-WlSG of the separator, and connected to the said moans of the other side; one of said separator sides being somewhat resilient and haring the, marginal circle. (lcfincd by one of the pcriphcral edges of the material intcrmediatc its poclcct-sidcs substantially coincident with that dcfincd by the ends of the ro tational arcs of the antifriction members to be received in said pockets, tho pockctsidcs of such separator sideprojecting beyond the circle defined by the intermediate material for substantially onc-half of their respective radial lengths; substantially as described.

3. A separator for antifriction members composed of two mating sides, each. presenting a series of spaced antifriction-memberpocket-sidcs, ono of thoseparator sides having the material intcrmcdiaw certain of its pocket-sides presenting apertures for passmg struts there-through and the other separator side presenting straight struts intermcdiate certain of its pocket-sides, projecting crosswisc of the separator, and havinshouldered cnds presenting win a, such en 3 abutting the other separator sic e with their shoulders and the wings being passed through said apertures and bent down; one of said separator sides being somewhat rcsllicnt and having the marginal circle defined by one of the peripheral edges of the n-csimtinr a scrim of I F matcrial intcrmcdiatc its porlicbsidc substantially coincident with that defined 1) the ends of the rotational axes of the antifriction mcmhcrs to be received in said oclccts, thc pmrkct-sidcs of such so iurator .si on projecting beyond the cii'clc clincd by the intermediate matcrial for substantially onchalf of thcir rnspcctivc radial lcngths; substantially as dcscrihcd.

4. A separator for antifriction nicmbors composed of two mating sidou of shoot mctal, cnch formed to prcscnt: a series of spaced antil'riction-n'|cmhcrpockct-sidcs, and one of said separator sides having the material intcrmcdiatc certain of its poclzct-sidcs .prcscnting moans substantially along its ccntcr line for tho connecting of struts thcroto; tho othcr separator sidc being somcwlmt rcsiliout and having struts formcd from the nnltcrial intcrmcdiatc certain of its pocketsidcs, projecting cross-wise of the separator. and connected to the said moans of the other sidc, the marginal circle defined by one of the peripheral cdgcs of such intermediate material being suhatantially coincident with that defined by thc rotational axcs of the antifriction meinbcrs to bo received in said pockets, and tho |)(H'ltl Sl(l(,.\' of such S(?[Hll'i'|- tor sidc projecting beyond the circle defined by the intcrmcdiatc matcrial for substantially one-half of their respective radial lengths; substantially as described.

5. In a ball bearing, an annular race incur her ha vin a raceway with ashouldcr at its side, a series of balls traveling on said raceway, and a separator for said balls comprising two matcd and rigidly connected annular sides each presenting aqorics of parti-sphcrL cal ball-pockct-sidos mated with those of the other to provide a. series of parti-sphcrical ball pockets, receiving said balls. of slightly greater diamctcr than said balls, and having restricted cxosurc openings for the balls opening on t at periphery of said separator which is the more distant, radially, from tho raceway and its shoulder, said openings being of less diameter than the balls, and the diameter of the circumferential plane of said openings being of such a length that thc separator and balls cannot, normally, pass over said shoulder, whereby the balls are rctainod on the raceway; the material of one of the sides of the separator bcin somewhat resilient and the pocket-sides 0 such side hiring a sutiicient portion of their res cct ve radial lengths, between the body of t e side and the said restricted openin s, free of the body of the side to provide t. tat, when the balls and separator are pushed over the said shoulder in snapping and the balls crowd into said restricted openings, the said pocket-sides, .wlnle yet restricting the balls, will resiliently flex adjacent the peripheries of said openings and permit said balls to pass over said shoulder without permanent distortion of the separator; substantially as described. j a

6. In a ball bearing, an annular inner race member having a raceway on its outer perifhe with a shoulder at its side, a series bals traveling onsaid raceway, and a separator for said balls comprising two mated and rigidly conneetedennular sides each presenting a series of parti-spherical ball-pocket-sides mated with those of the other to provide a series of riarti-spherieal ball pockets, receiving said ha ls, of shghtly greater diameter than said balls, and hav- 1n restricted ex osure openings for the he s opening on t 1e outer periphery of said separator, sald o enings'being of less diameter than the he] s, and the diameter of the circumferential plane of said openings being of such a length that the separator and balls cannot, normally, pass over said shoulder,

whereb the balls are retained on the raceway; t 10 material of one of the sides of the separator bein somewhat resilient and the pocket-sides o such side havin a suflieient ortion of their res ective re. ial len hs,

etween the body of t 1e side and the sai restricted openings, free of the body of the side to provide that, when the balls and separator are pushed over the said shoulder in snapping and the balls crowd into said restricted openings, the said pocket-sides, while yet restraining the balls, will resiliently flex adjacent the peripheries of said openings and permit said balls to. ass over said shoulder without permanent istortion oi the separator; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

FREDERICK G. H UGHES.

It is hereby certified that. in Letters Patent No. 1,299,474, granted April 8, 1919, upon .t-he applieation of Fi edetick G. Hughes, 0! Bristol, Connecticut, for an improvement in lntifriction-Beeringo and Separators Thorefo r, errors appear in the apecifioation requiring' correction e follows: Page 1, line 63, strike out,

comma. at end of the line and insert. a semicolon; same page, strike outline 64;

line 65,.before the semicolon insert. the words the ball, however, being all own in full; p'age 2, line 2, for the word "well? read ball; page 3, claim 3, line 70, second ocourrenoe, for the word "sides" road side; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the reg- 0rd of the case in th Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of May, A. D 1919' [BELL] v R. F. \VHITEHEAI),

Acting Commissioner of Patents. C]. 64-59 

